Very nice 😀

When you are testing you system feel free to compare your results with my findings here: http://youtu.be/09mhPtidhFk

It features the same CPU as yours!

The system is great, the only comments I have is about the chipset. I would go for Intel. And for storage I use an IDE to SATA adapter together with a 32GB capacity limited 2TB drive 😀

That is a lovely system - and I like the case. I have a no-name case with a similar PSU/board layout, and as long as you don't stuff an over-hot CPU in there, having a PSU with a "bottom" fan is usually enough to keep everything running nicely. Which, IMO, can simplify the build quite a bit. The only downside is you probably can't stick a massively big CPU heatsink in there, but a P3 shouldn't need such a thing. On the aftermarket cutout for the 80mm fan, if the edge is relatively raw you can get c-channel and put it in there to make it safer and it will still look fairly neat.

To your questions:

1) I probably wouldn't. I'm not all that familiar with the S3 Savage4, but Wikipedia says it's inferior to the TNT2 or Rage 128 - the GeForce256 is faster than those. I'm also more inclined to stick with nVidia/GeForce cards because of their very wide driver support options.

2) GeForce 2 or GeForce 3 sounds more "right" for a P3 build imho, but it really comes down to what you need to do. I probably would pass right over a GTS/Ultra having said that, and either go for a GeForce 3 or a GeForce 4 MX (or something higher than those) - the 4MX will have LMA and other optimizations that will improve it over the GF2 series, and the GF3 (and later) will have pixel shader support (which unlocks games, features, etc). GeForce 3 Ti 200 shouldn't be terribly expensive, for example. If you wanted to go with something even faster, GeForce 4 Ti or a mid-range (or above) GeForce FX could be a nice option too, depending on what you need it to run and at what resolution.

3) As far as other suggestions, a few things come to mind (none are "necessary" - just some random ideas I had):

- You could switch up to an Audigy series card and gain 6.1 or 7.1 output, and 1394 support.
- You could put a Matrox Parhelia in there and have triple-head gaming if you have the desk space and monitors.
- Windows XP
- Light-up fans or other lights (I remember many "high end" computers from this era tended to light up like the fourth of the July)

Again, very nice build from a very nice era (imho) of computing. 😀

I wonder if a Prescott P4 would survive in that case. Most likely not 🤣

02/08/2014 - Update

My other Creative Voodoo 2 CT6670 arrived the other day, some of you may of seen my thred in Marvin. I can now sleep at night knowing all of my PCI slots are full! Now to the drive bays 😀

The trouble is, even thought its labled up as the exact same card, Creative CT6670 it is a 8mb card - missing the RAM from the rear of the card. I decided to SLi anyway.

I put the 8mb as the master card, at the top and the 12mb below. Windows picked up both cards without any issues and seems to be running them as two 8mb cards.

You can see below, the 12mb card on its own, gets a slightly higher 3Dmark score.

I've tried a number of other glide games, such as Unreal, Turok 2 and all run fantastically. The Sli makes a big difference. I'll keep my eye out for another Creative 12mb card, but not that fussed.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Very nice :) […]
Show full quote

Very nice 😀

When you are testing you system feel free to compare your results with my findings here: http://youtu.be/09mhPtidhFk

It features the same CPU as yours!

The system is great, the only comments I have is about the chipset. I would go for Intel. And for storage I use an IDE to SATA adapter together with a 32GB capacity limited 2TB drive 😀

Thanks again for putting time into your detailed project. It was a interesting read and helped me ensure I was on the right track with benchmarks for my Voodoos. 😀

obobskivich wrote:

To your questions: […]
Show full quote

To your questions:

1) I probably wouldn't. I'm not all that familiar with the S3 Savage4, but Wikipedia says it's inferior to the TNT2 or Rage 128 - the GeForce256 is faster than those. I'm also more inclined to stick with nVidia/GeForce cards because of their very wide driver support options.

2) GeForce 2 or GeForce 3 sounds more "right" for a P3 build imho, but it really comes down to what you need to do. I probably would pass right over a GTS/Ultra having said that, and either go for a GeForce 3 or a GeForce 4 MX (or something higher than those) - the 4MX will have LMA and other optimizations that will improve it over the GF2 series, and the GF3 (and later) will have pixel shader support (which unlocks games, features, etc). GeForce 3 Ti 200 shouldn't be terribly expensive, for example. If you wanted to go with something even faster, GeForce 4 Ti or a mid-range (or above) GeForce FX could be a nice option too, depending on what you need it to run and at what resolution.

3) As far as other suggestions, a few things come to mind (none are "necessary" - just some random ideas I had):

- You could switch up to an Audigy series card and gain 6.1 or 7.1 output, and 1394 support.
- You could put a Matrox Parhelia in there and have triple-head gaming if you have the desk space and monitors.
- Windows XP
- Light-up fans or other lights (I remember many "high end" computers from this era tended to light up like the fourth of the July)

Again, very nice build from a very nice era (imho) of computing. 😀

Thanks 😀

The Savage is a terrible directX card, much slower than the Geforce, however I was leaving most of the 3D work to the Voodoos and was just thinking of 2D and image quality. Although having the Geforce in there gives me more options. I agree, a Geforce 2 would be more fitting. Geforce 3 possibly, but I wanted to keep the build true to the time frame.

I'm assuming the customised blank/cover in the front lower drive bays is for a small LCD screen, I suppose I could look into something here, as case modding was starting to get popular.

PcBytes wrote:

I wonder if a Prescott P4 would survive in that case. Most likely not 🤣

🤣 - can you imagine 😲

There is a small 60mm fan just above the CPU and a vent on top. This is to extract away some of the CPU heat, however the fan is not overly powerful.

foey wrote:

Thanks 😀

The Savage is a terrible directX card, much slower than the Geforce, however I was leaving most of the 3D work to the Voodoos and was just thinking of 2D and image quality. Although having the Geforce in there gives me more options. I agree, a Geforce 2 would be more fitting. Geforce 3 possibly, but I wanted to keep the build true to the time frame.

I'd probably leave the 256 then - honestly unless it does the "wavy lines" thing that some GF2 Ultras do, I doubt there's going to be much difference between it and the Savage, especially since both of them would be passing through the Voodoo2s (IME I can't personally tell much (if any) difference between the straight VGA output from my WildcatVP or the VP -> V2 combo, but reportedly the V2 degrades the signal, especially at very high resolutions (which my monitors don't support)). And having the DX options seems to be a good idea given the era of the system - for example I don't think The Sims will work with the Voodoo cards, but will work with the GeForce. I don't know how the Savage would fare there though. 😊

I'm assuming the customised blank/cover in the front lower drive bays is for a small LCD screen, I suppose I could look into something here, as case modding was starting to get popular.

Most likely the case. You shouldn't have much trouble finding some sort of device to fill the void.

🤣 - can you imagine 😲

There is a small 60mm fan just above the CPU and a vent on top. This is to extract away some of the CPU heat, however the fan is not overly powerful.

In my case with the similar layout (no rear exhaust, no top exhaust, just the over-the-CPU PSU and a front 80mm intake), it had no issues with a P4 Willamette (~75W TDP) and Radeon 9700Pro as long as the front intake was hooked up - things got a little warm if it sat and ran games for hours, but nothing died in there. The P4 and motherboard still work (it's in another case/system now), the 9700 was in storage for a while and when I pulled it out a year or so ago to test it was dead, so I recycled it. Go figure. 🤣

I was using a Thermaltake PSU that has a "bottom" fan as well as a rear fan, so it acted as an exhaust sitting almost directly over-top of the CPU. I never remember it putting out exceedingly hot exhaust at the back, or the case itself getting ridiculously warm while running. Certainly not the most perfect design for a high TDP CPU/GPU combo, but it did work. I think a P3 is probably more appropriate for such a case though.

Nice system build over there..

07/08/2013 - Update

Received my replacement DVD-ROM Drive today. I bought a period correct Creative DVD 5x drive, from 1999. It will go well once I get the Creative Live Drive.

I also removed the custom drive blank and replaced with the standard blanking panels, I hope to put drives in these but one step at a time, otherwise the wife will find out 😀

I also volt modded the side 80mm case case, its now running at 7v, much quieter.

Just a quick photo of the setup so far, its connected to a 15" LCD, Native Res is 1024x768. Mouse and keyboard are spares I have to hand, I have the older ones up in the loft. Just a sample of the games I'm playing through at the moment.

Completed the single player of Quake III which runs on the Geforce 256 1024x768, 32bit colour, full details @ 69fps (Timedemo)
Currently playing through Quake II on the Voodoo SLI's @ 1024x768.

Hope you like the period correct wallpaper 😀

You're doing the same thing that I'm in the process of doing for myself, and I was actually looking at the same exact case on ebay. I'm currently waiting for a similar GeForce 256 DDR and a CT6670 (advertised as 8MB, but picture looks like a 12MB), and I already have the motherboard and coppermine. I don't have a nice case for my system tho. I don't have a period correct wallpaper, but it is from digital blasphemy also. =)

Been thinking about buying a Voodoo3 3000 too, but I've decided to wait since I feel like I've been spending way too much on computer parts recently, and I need to finish up my contemporary computer too.

Your system is pretty sweet. That ATC-S makes a huge difference.

foey wrote:

- I have a 32mb Diamond S3 Savage Stealth 540 card, do you think I should replace the geforce with this or look into getting a Geforce 2 GTS?

IMO the only point of using a Savage card would be S3 MeTaL support. If you want to see how Unreal engine games look/play using MeTaL instead of Glide this might be an interesting option.

Just wondering: Why are you playing Quake II on the Voodoos instead the Geforce?

I LOVE that case. It looks light, and the motherboard slide out tray is just brilliant. If only modern cases had that.
I got a rig that is slightly newer in hardware, but the results can easily be compared. Might put my Voodoo2 in mine...

joacim wrote:

You're doing the same thing that I'm in the process of doing for myself, and I was actually looking at the same exact case on ebay. I'm currently waiting for a similar GeForce 256 DDR and a CT6670 (advertised as 8MB, but picture looks like a 12MB), and I already have the motherboard and coppermine. I don't have a nice case for my system tho. I don't have a period correct wallpaper, but it is from digital blasphemy also. =)

Been thinking about buying a Voodoo3 3000 too, but I've decided to wait since I feel like I've been spending way too much on computer parts recently, and I need to finish up my contemporary computer too.

Your system is pretty sweet. That ATC-S makes a huge difference.

Thanks 😀

The case I was originally trying to find was the bigger 201, I looked for sometime and was unable to find one. I missed out on a 200 series a month back but pleased I went for the ATC-S. I don't think I needed anything bigger.

Whats the spec of your machine? Make sure you get it posted!

idspispopd wrote:

foey wrote:

- I have a 32mb Diamond S3 Savage Stealth 540 card, do you think I should replace the geforce with this or look into getting a Geforce 2 GTS?

IMO the only point of using a Savage card would be S3 MeTaL support. If you want to see how Unreal engine games look/play using MeTaL instead of Glide this might be an interesting option.

Just wondering: Why are you playing Quake II on the Voodoos instead the Geforce?

Yeah I've had a little play with the metal stuff, its pretty impressive. I was impressed with the Image quality of the card. Just a shame it really sucks at directX... oh and running anything quickly 🤣

I'm running Quake II on the Voodoos just for nostalgia purposes really. Also when switching to the Geforce everything looks very dark, I know I can turn up the brightness but its just not the same 😀

TwOne wrote:

I LOVE that case. It looks light, and the motherboard slide out tray is just brilliant. If only modern cases had that.
I got a rig that is slightly newer in hardware, but the results can easily be compared. Might put my Voodoo2 in mine...

The case is very light! When I received the package through the post I was wondering if the case was in there! Whats your specifications?

foey wrote:

Whats the spec of your machine? Make sure you get it posted!

Operating System: Microsoft Windows ME

CPU: Intel Pentium IIIE, 933 MHz (7 x 133)
Motherboard: Asus CUSL2
RAM: 512 MB PC133 SDRAM (128+128+256)

Video Adapter: NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Pro
3D Accelerator: 3Dfx Voodoo2 12MB (confirmed by driver info)
Monitor: Eizo EV2336W

Audio Adapter: Creative SB Live! (CT4620)

I'm very happy with my Voodoo2. It ended up being the 12MB version, and I didn't notice any quality degradation from the passthrough cable (VGA port saver). I think my GeForce 256 DDR will be here later this week.

Trying to keep this build as 99-00 as possible, but some of the parts are newer. Right now I'm using an 80GB ATA/100 drive and I'm thinking about replacing my current case with a Lian-Li PC7-SCAND from around 2003-2004. The Lian-Li isn't a great case, but it is a lot better than the one my system is currently in.

Been using this computer to play Unreal. =)

That case makes all the difference to this build. Its one of the nicest I've ever seen. Good job, and happy gaming!

foey wrote:

I'm running Quake II on the Voodoos just for nostalgia purposes really. Also when switching to the Geforce everything looks very dark, I know I can turn up the brightness but its just not the same 😀

Nostalgia, understood.
And not brightness, you'd need to turn up gamma. 3dfx cards have a high default gamma setting.

18/08/2013 - Small Update

My Live Drive arrived this week, just got around to fitting it...

I bought it off Ebay for £10. Its in almost new condition, no yellowing or scratches at all.

So Vogons, what should I fill the lower drive bays with? I was thinking of 1.44 floppy and a Zip Drive?

LS-120 Superdisk drive. Make sure you get a Panasonic/Matsushita though.

28/08/2014 - Update

Little quiet on the update front, mainly due to I've been enjoying the machine! It's pretty much been on every night either playing games or testing hardware.

I'm currently playing through the following...

Theme Park World
The Sims
Quake II (Quite far through)
Expendable
Ford Racing 2
Unreal Gold
Unreal Tournament

So, the additions...

Iomega ZIP100 Drive (ATAPI)
Not got any Disks yet, but they are on order. I'm going to use them for game saves. I was going to fill the last bay with either, as suggested by bjt, a LS-120 drive (Quite hard to find and pricey) or a standard floppy drive.

Creative 3DFX 12mb Voodoo 2 Card + Live Drive Cable
This was to replace the 8mb card I received. Just noticed the rounded cable is made by MSI, who make the motherboard 🤣

The Creative Live drive came without a cable, so I managed to find a 40pin IDE cable without any pin blocks. I just had to match pin1 each side and it works a treat. The front panel is fantastic as I'm always using headphones.

MSC Graphics Card
It seems I'm hooked at buying graphics cards from 1999-2001 era. This month its a....

Matrox G400 MAX Dual Head AGP Card.

Very impressed with the image quality of the Matrox, instantly in the Bios the text was clearer than the Geforce. 3DMark 99 looked crisper.

It Scores quite well in 3DMark 99, nothing could touch it's memory bandwidth until the Geforce arrived. However its pretty useless at 3DMark 2000, scoring just 1000 points.

It will sit with my others for this build...

Very nice, The 2 Creative devices next to each other is a real nice touch.
For the 2nd 3.5 bay I would finish the look and get a floppy drive. Back then every computer still had a floppy drive. Although lets face it your not going to get much use out of it.
If you want something that IS useful a USB floppy emulator will work exactly the same as far as that PC goes but you can use software to copy files onto the USB floppy on any PC for quick/lazy file transfers